The Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center has a lot going on. Monday brought the surprising news that associate artistic director Joel Ferrell is leaving at the end of August "to pursue new professional opportunities," according to the company's press release. Ferrell will continue to work with the theater on a contractual basis, as an "associate artist," and will return to DTC to direct A Christmas Carol this winter. The announcement by artistic director Kevin Moriarty acknowledged that Ferrell "has been an essential part of the fabric of Dallas Theater Center."

Ferrell also issued a statement in the release, saying he looked forward "to many more collaborations with my Dallas Theater Center family, as well as new opportunities, projects and partnerships in DFW and around the country."

The cast of Real Women Have Curves, playing at the Dallas Theater Center through May 19, 2019.

(Karen Almond/Dallas Theater Center)

The news comes at a time when DTC is wrapping up the acclaimed drama, Real Women Have Curves. Written by Josefina López, the play is set in Los Angeles in 1987 but carries so much impact in 21st century America. It continues through Sunday night, May 19, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, which is yet another front on which the theater center is making news.

The theater center, the city of Dallas and a group of design professionals are vying, and not exactly peacefully, for a makeover of Frank Lloyd Wright's acclaimed theater, which opened in 1957. And at the moment, there is no agreement in sight. But anyone who has seen Real Women Have Curves can tell you that it still works beautifully as a theatrical space, as evidenced by last Saturday night's powerful performance.

And for those of us who grew up in Dallas, in Pleasant Grove in particular, we can't wait for the June 5 opening of Jonathan Norton's Penny Candy, which on the DTC website carries the subtitle: "Life in Dallas' Pleasant Grove was both sweet and sour."